Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN - A local man whose wife was stabbed in Boardman just before noon Sunday ran from police and forced officers to shut down the Market Street Bridge in Youngstown for three hours after it appeared he was going to leap from the span over the Mahoning River.
It took three hours of police negotiations to talk the man, identified by Tribune news partner WYTV as John Sylvester Jr., 37, from the bridge safely.
Article Photos
Youngstown police officers negotiate Sunday with John Sylvester Jr., far left, as he threatens to leap from the Market Street bridge in downtown Youngstown. The standoff lasted nearly three hours before Sylvester agreed to step down safely. Special to the Tribune Chronicle / WYTV
Following the standoff in which several police officers and onlookers stood nearby, Sylvester was transported to Northside Medical Center by ambulance.
''He kept saying he wanted to jump, he thought that his life was over," Youngstown police Detective David Lomax, told WYTV reporters.
Sylvester wound up in Youngstown after fleeing from Boardman police. Officers were called to a home on Jaguar Drive, just before noon where Sylvester's wife had suffered a stab wound.
Boardman police did not return messages seeking more details on that incident. Also, no police report was available in Youngstown late Sunday. The stabbing victim's condition also was not available Sunday evening.
Police had tracked Sylvester into Youngstown where city officers spotted him walking on the bridge. According to reports, when officers approached, he jumped on the rail and threatened to jump.
Lomax reported that Sylvester told him he couldn't remember what happened. Lomax spent hours talking with Sylvester and said for the most part he was responsive, using information about Sylvester's young son to help lure him to safety.
This was the second man in less than a week to threaten suicide by attempting to leap from a Mahoning County bridge.
Fire crews on Tuesday rescued Gary Brown after he was spotted hanging from the Thalia Avenue overpass over Interstate 680 in Boardman. He was not injured.